An Idiot Abroad…

Eric Sykes

Americans are getting Tooned in.
Americans are getting Tooned in.
With the globalisation of football and so many ex-pats on here, I thought there may be some interest in my recent match-day experience. Some background… I had been watching NUFC for a few years in a Chicago “soccer” bar but stopped going because I was usually the only NUFC fan there. I had dragged a friend there a couple of times but he was a jinx – we were down 4-0 at half time to Wigan and Spurs – so I banned him.

I was made aware on this website a couple of months ago that there was now a Chicago Chapter of NUFC USA. So I looked them up and made my way to the Milwaukee preseason game and they were a very friendly lot. The Guy that runs it said he had been to a pub earlier and Biffa from NUFC.com was in there and was treated like a rock star. Him holding court and the whole bar hanging on his every word.

So to Sundays’s match. It was scheduled for 7.30 am and I went over thinking there would be a couple of people there. Well, there were about 20 all in Toon tops and all in their 20’s and early 30’s. They had had a 6-8 foot NUFC banner made up and hung it in the window. They even had a professional photographer taking pictures. I was the only Geordie, they were all Yanks and had adopted NUFC in the past few years when Pards and Carvs were managers. I thought the were crazy, but I suppose there would be an affinity with NUFC as the Chicago Cubs haven’t won anything since 1908.

Anyway, its 7.30 and I thought I would be the only one having a pint, but no. The organiser gets a round in for about 6 at our table. When Cisse scored they all went mad like they had been Toon fans all their lives, jumping up and down and knocked the table of beers over.

Eric made the lads pass a Geordie dialect test before they were allowed to watch the game.
Eric made the lads pass a Geordie dialect test before they were allowed to watch the game.
The Pub replaced the beers free of charge and I learned they had an arrangement that they would show all NUFC games live and they must have a special license because you cant buy beer in a supermarket until 11 on a Sunday.

I got talking to these Lads and they are all Accountants, Estate Agents and Lawyers so God knows what attracted them to NUFC. One works for United Airlines and is flying into Bristol for a few days but specifically to go to the Swansea match. He asked me what the Welsh are like and I explained their love of song and sheep.

Well, the beers kept flowing and it was an entertaining match so we decided to stay and watch Liverpool. After about 4 hours of drinking starting that early, I must admit I needed a nap to recover. I am just so surprised how passionate this lot are about NUFC and that football seems to finally be taking off over here. NBC have just picked up the Premier League until 2021 showing every game and paying $1 Billion so it must be happening all over the country. This is a far cry from just a few years ago. There had always been a hard core of support for successful teams but not locals for NUFC. Maybe Schteve will have to get used to US tours!

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240 thoughts on “An Idiot Abroad…”

  2. Good read Eric. Glad to see the club attracting new fans on other Continents for the likes of you to share the drama with!

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  4. Nice read Eric, thanks. Sounds like you had a great time with that lot 😀 , it’s quite nice that they have chosen to support the Toon this recently, you would expect them to be supporters from the KK era or ex pat long term fans. That’s dedication to be a fan in the leaner times and at such a distance too.

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  5. Big D: I wanted to write about something different because the Chronicle and Newsnow articles are basically the same day after day. Also, wanted to show I am not JUST a Carver hater 🙂

    That’s the thing about Blogs, they bring out different things about NUFC than the same old same old from the papers.

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  7. I live just a few hours east of Chicago, and am a Bears, and Cubs fan. So I know the art of losing. What drew me to NUFC years ago was the fact that Chicago, and Newcastle fans are some of the most loyal sports fans around. We will tell are teams what we think, but no one else can. I would love to know where this bar is at, because I thought I was alone with this team. Thanks

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  9. AJ Hudsons at 3801 North Ashland. Pretty close to Wrigley Field and run by a Brit. Some of these guys drove 50 miles in from the suburbs.

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  11. Sounds great, Eric. Amazing Tommy can find his local (Chicago) NUFC fan group through this British based blog – gotta love this modern world, but still with old school fans – supporting through thick and thin!!!

    Eric, you said NBC were showing every game, does that mean it is possible to get every Newcastle game?

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  12. Tommy: the good thing about this bar is that it has a dedicated room for the NUFC game and plays the commentary. It is Toon fans and that week’s opposition. I have been to other places where there are a couple of games playing and Arsenal and Spurs always took precedence, and, of course there were many more of their fans (simply because there are so many Londoners in Chicago and because their relative recent success encouraged more American support).

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  13. Cracking article Eric. I have enjoyed our fanzine articles this summer from the likes of Eric & Norcal. It’s given the blog a different dimension I think. The likes of Eds blog seems to just rehash whatever transfer speculation had hit the headlines that day.

    Tommy – welcome to the blog mate 😉

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  14. LS: they broadcast featured games on regular TV and we are quite often one of these as they will show 3 on Saturday, and 2 or 3 on Sunday and also Monday games if there is one. If yours isn’t featured you can get it on-demand, free of an extra charge and free of commercials. You can get both via an internet stream as well but I am not sure how that works outside the US.

    For those who are internet savvy the Channel is NBC Sports Net and I am sure there must be some way to get a stream in the UK when Saturday games are blacked out. The commentators are English which is not always good because Arlo White is one of them.

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  16. Sharpy: my gripe with the likes of Ryder is they churn out the same formulaic shyte wherever they are. Ryder travelled with the team over here, and went to the training sessions. He could easily have written a Diary of the Tour with quotes and stories from the people he met. FFS, Norcaltoon had a great story on here and there are undoubtedly many more he could have featured from new US fans, ex-Pats and people who had come over from England. I don’t know if it is lazy journalism, incompetence or restrictions placed on him by The Chronicle.

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  17. Cheers, Eric. You actually have better TV coverage than people living in the UK, that is ridiculous. I live in China but i have a mate who is working on supplying a full package of premiership games, through some of his Chinese mates, and was talking about using US coverage to get all Newcastle, or any other teams, games. I wasn’t sure about it but i will follow up on it now. The Chinese might not be able to get everything on their own internet, but they can usually get most stuff from other people’s!

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  18. It’s lack of imagination and intelligence Eric. If you are a writer, then there is a world of possibilities at the nib of your pen – but a lot of these so called journalists just take the easy, boring route ll the time for some reason….

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  20. Good read, Eric. The rise of football in countries such as the US and Oz is a wonderful thing.

    Long may you watch games with the Chicago chapter.

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  21. Sounds like a Sunday (and a fair bit of wedge) well spent!
    I only wish I could find a pub like that down here in Devon; I’m usually the only Mag. 🙁

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  22. If any of you ever travel to the U.S. most major cities now have local supporters groups that gather at designated pubs each week for the matches.

    http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/13416034/houston-texans-hard-knocks-hbo-scenes

    Yeah Lionel I think we do get better coverage over here since there aren’t any blackouts. I can watch all Toon matches on my television with one or two exceptions over the course of the year in which case I watch on the NBC HD internet feed.

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  24. MDS: BEin show the main Spanish, Italian and French games as well. I often record Madrid and Barcelona games. Fox have Champions League and I think have picked up Bundesliga. I could spend all my life watching football if I am not careful 🙂

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  25. good read eric.
    to get nbc sports extra here you need a vpn and log in details,it was great on kodi till they changed it,every prem game in hd.

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  26. Eric…Yep I have Bein(MENA) on Satellite here, Every Premier League game as well as the main European leagues like , Spanish, French, Dutch and German.

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  27. Yeah, we get every game as well. I always find it amusing on game day when the Brits are looking for an internet stream and all I have to do is switch on the tv. 😆

    Sharpy @ 13. One of the reasons I like this blog is that it is more of a community than other blogs. I liken it to being in a pub where the main article is the entertainment, a regular stand up monologue that sets up the ensuing conversation.

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  28. Eric/Richie: year with BEin there is really too much to watch. The Bundeliga now has a similar deal with Fox where most matches not on tv can be watched via their online device.

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  29. Yeah, MDS, with the computerization of TV and all the money in the UK TV market I can’t believe people cannot just choose whatever game they want – and it should’t have to be at a huge cost.

    I am not sure yet, but i may, even here in China, end up being able to watch more games than people back at home – it will certainly be cheaper!! Crazy.

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  30. Thanks Eric. .. apparently there is some gay bar in Perth that shows our games. Richie reckons he has a great time there! He reckons the crack is great 😆 😆

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  31. Hitman, can you reliably get nbc sports extra through your VPN, my VPNs have been hit and miss in the past. When you say log in details, do you mean you need the details of someone who has an NBC account in the US?

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  32. Eric – Still waiting for the ambition to be shown. 3 signings don’t do enough for me. I’m not on my own either by the looks of things.

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  33. ls,you need someones internet details like xfinity log in details and password.
    as for vpn i was using pia worked a treat till they changed the add-on.

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  34. Hitman: I was in England earlier this year and had my password and stuff for NBC and still couldn’t get the game. Cheap bastards in the UK blocked me then.

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  35. ERIC great read makes a nice change plus you have brought a new blogger along too,welcome Tommy Lapp

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  36. I am sure I probably could have figured it out but we were on that 8 game losing run so I gave up 🙂

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  41. From Krul:

    “I think it needed a fresh wind, and the gaffer has definitely come in and changed a few things.” “We showed a few patches of it against Southampton.

    “The manager walked in the changing room and said to us that he thinks we can add another 40% to what we showed.”

    “I gave Chancel a few words before the game,” “I said if I say, ‘Keeper – get out of the way’, you are going to get a punch on the head!”

    “He’s a top player. You can see that. He’s confident on the ball and I think he’ll be a real asset for us. Him and Colo read the game really well and he had a great debut.”

    “I forget to add, I never actually say, ‘Keeper – get out the way’, so don’t worry about it too much. Just concentrate on marking the man and attacking the ball.”

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  42. Would have been a turn up if McClaren had of said “Right guys, I know most of you were playing at your optimum last season so there won’t be much more I can get of you…”

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  43. I gotta say that is why i am confident about our season, not because of Krul, but because looking at McClaren and Cathro during the game, the way they were talking and how relaxed McC looked, he gave the impression that he thought the game could go either way but that they were discussing why that was the case, and what they still need to work on to sort it out.

    Can you imagine Carver or Pardew last season walking in and saying we can improve you by 40%? They obviously, as our play proved, had no idea how to do that.

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  44. Lionel, Every coach in the world would walk into a dressing room and tell the players he could improve them. Otherwise what would be the point in the coach?

    As for McClaren and Cathro talking, every coach talks to the other coaches. He could have been saying “Jesus, man! We need a better defence than this” for all we know. I lost count the amount of times I saw Carver and Stone in conflab on the sidelines.

    Loving your optimism but dear me, it’s all based if’s but’s and maybe’s to be fair to you.

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  45. Icedog I really wanted Virgil Van Dijk to replace Colocini this season. I’m disappointed because Colocini will lead our defence into a relegation battle.

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  46. Why oh why do we persist with Colocini ? He has had one relegation season with us and nearly relegated the team twice.

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  48. We have already done the right thing by replacing Mbemba for Williamson. I just think we should of done the same with Colocini especially after last season but he gets rewarded with a new contract instead.

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  49. I appreciate your fairness, Stu. 😀 Just how I see it, mate. Maybe true, Stu, but when you make a claim like that, as a manager, you are probably going to have to back it up. 40% is quite specific. My point is, i genuinely think McClaren knows what he is doing, and that Pardew et al wouldn’t have said that because they didn’t, as proven, know how to improve us.

    I will finish a bit more optimism via Ed and Rob Lee:

    ¨It was great to see Newcastle go into Sunday’s game with a positive approach, and the fans seemed to respond. It’s been doom and gloom up there for too long.¨

    ¨But at the weekend the supporters seemed to pick up where they left off at the end of last season, against West Ham United, and optimism appears to be seeping back.¨

    ¨That new sense of positivity will be tested to the full on Saturday, though…¨If [Newcastle] on song they’ll be a threat. Swansea are good but they’re not invincible. Let’s see how they cope with real pace.¨

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  50. In terms of your season ticket and watching us generally, i really don’t think it is just about the new players we buy. I think the more interesting and exciting thing will be seeing us evolve as a football playing team.

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  51. I would find it impossible for anybody to do a worse job than Carver did to be honest! But the same could be said about his silly “best coach in the world” comment. Anybody who says that has to back it up, I’m sure you’d agree.

    I agree McClaren is a better coach than Carver but he’s had his fair share of failure recently so the optimism for him improving players by 40% is unfounded and the jury is still out. It has to be.

    I’m not saying you’re wrong by the way. Just that it’s way to early to be making predictions of improvement to the degree of going up 6/7 league positions and 40% improvement from the players.

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  52. Yes, Lionel the excitement of the playing style will play a part but we will improve by buying better players. Players that are available and we have the money so there’s no real excuse imo if they left us short in defence and attack. In fact I would be more disappointed in the fact that with the 3 we have signed we will have missed a brilliant opportunity to seriously make a dent in the top 8.

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  53. Fair enough, Stu, really, but what you are asking for is the improvement first and then saying: ‘Yes, he can improve us.” In life we make assessments of things and people all the time, and base predictions on those, we read people and situations differently, i am just predicting that he will come up with the goods based on what he has been left with, the good work he has done in the past, including at Derby – it only really went wrong there from January, the fact i think the club suits him, the fact he has got a good Dutch contingent around him, the fact he has employed good staff and the way he has communicated and what he has said since being here. It is just a prediction – it obviously can’t be right or wrong, yet.

    I do certainly agree that we could and should add a few more and it would be a waste if we didn’t. But, it won’t get me down too much if we don’t, and i still think we will add 1 or 2 more, as i do think we are taking a longer view now and we are going to improve how we play, which for me is a massive step in the right direction. It is just how i see it. Totally hands up if i am completely wrong.

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  54. Another couple of important words in Toon are ‘nettie’ and ‘tabs’. The latter shocked me when I first arrived. A twelve year old asking me in the street for LSD? 🙄

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  55. Another thing about The Chronicle. Every part of the paper is about local human interest except the Sports Section. You have stories about local people made good, tragedies, inspiring fund raising and the like, even depressing stories like Raul Mort. They engage the local population and quote them.

    The sports section is in its own little world of 5 things you never knew. Even when they have Chronicle Live with questions from the fans it is about the Journalist and them putting people straight and spouting off. It really is like it is in its own little world and functions apart from the rest of the paper and the community.

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  56. I can tell you though, Stu, if we continue to make a profit i will be as pissed off as you. I just really don’t think that is their aim, anymore.

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  57. pleased to see we building up our surport base in the land of the brave,thinks meself its an untaped land for players and surporters meself,just amazed meself they started this in the pards and carver era, 😀

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  60. ERIC SYKES
    maybe you should tell the fellas about the blog, we could do with some more points of view in here 😀

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  61. @Toonarnylite 😀

    All the talk has been of us going for Austin, and it is just a matter of bartering over a few million, so between 12-15 mill. This morning I started thinking about Carroll again, then read about Liverpool knocking a few balls long to Benteke, and then thought about how we could still do with 1 or 2 players that get in the faces of the opposition.

    If we were to spend 12-15 million would it really be better spent on Austin rather than Carroll, on the proviso that any Carroll deal/ salary was of course appearance related, due to so many injuries? Or has that boat really sailed?

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  62. LIONEL SPEED
    we wont sign austin bud hes just been a smoke screen from the off in my opinion,no way is he worth any more than 7 million with less than a year on his contract 😉

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  63. TAE: They have their own facebook page and one of them writes a NUFC blog which is actually very good. He was in the press box with Ryder at the Milwaukee match. I don’t want to disrupt their camaraderie by introducing them to Troysta 🙂 We’ll see though, after I get to know them better I might direct one or two this way (my guess is a couple read anyway but haven’t commented).

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  65. LIONEL SPEED
    think we have more chance of signing a wing man on the left and a big cb than a striker meself 😉

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  67. Just been thinking about Carrroll again and think he could add a bit of presence we lack, plus get a bit of Geordie blood back in the team, but Mitrovic may well end up being that man + he has supported the Toon since he was a lad!

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  68. LIONEL SPEED
    i do like carrol hes 1 of the best headers of a football on the planet in my opinion and can head it down and put it on the money for some1 else in the box,but what will stop it is his fitness issues,which is why the deal wont happen

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  69. Yeah, TAE, can’t get the image of that header he scored for England out of my head. He’s probably too close to getting back from injury for them to sell as well. But, if any deal was going on under the radar that would actually be the one I would want, but not for stupid money.

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  70. LIONEL SPEED
    think hes on something like 100k a week,and west ham payed a big fee also and they would want to recoup as much as they could from the fee for him 😉 so would not be cheap

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